Tech workers, take heart — artificial intelligence might actually be good for your job prospects.
In a recent survey, nearly seven in 10 tech leaders said they planned to increase the number of people on their teams because of the expansion of generative AI.
The possibility of increased demand for tech talent is welcome news after years of industry layoffs and following recent comments from high-profile tech CEOs, including Amazon’s Andy Jassy, who warn that AI is coming for some jobs.
The newly released findings from Deloitte are based on a March survey of some 600 chief information officers, CTOs, and other tech leaders. In it, 69% of tech leaders said they planned to boost their team’s size because of GenAI.
Such plans are a sign that many leaders are going to step back and think about the expertise they’ll need as AI makes rapid advances in its capabilities, Anjali Shaikh, a managing director at Deloitte, told Business Insider.
She said that will mean, among other things, asking what types of skills will be needed as AI takes on more work.
Other questions will include how roles might evolve to incorporate AI. For example, people working in cybersecurity could see their day-to-day activities change as AI absorbs more duties related to fortifying digital infrastructure.
Beyond that, Shaikh said, many new roles are likely to combine technical chops with so-called soft skills.
Workers, build your skills
The prospect of a workplace crowded with tech like GenAI and AI agents — autonomous software programs — has, at times, raised uncomfortable questions about how many human employees will still be needed. That’s particularly true with desk jobs that are likely easier to automate than the work of a plumber or an electrician.
More CEOs are talking about the possible fallout. OpenAI chief Sam Altman said this month that AI was already producing work similar to that of junior employees. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has said he tells fellow chief executives that future generations of leaders will oversee both people and agents.
Getting or keeping a job in tech as AI takes on a bigger role within organizations isn’t guaranteed, of course. In many cases, people will need to build their skills in order to remain competitive.
That’s a point that Amazon’s Jassy and other leaders have been making as they’ve implored workers to level up their AI abilities to avoid risking obsolescence. Jassy said that while AI will take over some jobs, the technology will likely lead to the addition of other roles — an idea echoed in the results of the Deloitte survey.
For many, experimentation is key
Shaikh said the takeaway for most workers is to learn AI and what it can and can’t do. She said technical skills might be needed in some cases, though Shaikh doesn’t think most workers need to get hung up on that.
“The experimentation, the understanding of what the technology can and cannot do, is probably most fundamental,” she said.
Shaikh said that as AI becomes more self-sustaining within organizations, there will be a greater need for human skills to propel adoption further and maximize the technology.
She said that means workers will often need to deploy their most human abilities: empathy, emotional intelligence, and curiosity. They’ll also need to rely on critical thinking, problem solving, logical reasoning, and written and verbal communication, Shaikh said.
“You’re going to need people who understand how to use it,” she said. “That’s going to require some of those human skills.”
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